That's right. The login requirement for Treasury's retail site for individual investors was a welcome security measure -- at first. But since its debut in 2007, as private bank online security measures improved, Treasury's access card became outdated, cumbersome and, frankly, a pain.

"That card has been somewhat of a stickler for us in terms of customer satisfaction," Treasury Department spokeswoman Joyce Harris said, kindly.

Until this week, to log in, you had to have the card in hand. After entering your randomly assigned account number, TreasuryDirect prompted you with three letter-number combinations. You looked on your card for the corresponding letter or number that matched the column and row of the letter and number given you on the screen.

It was a bit like playing Bingo without the markers. And you couldn't just use your keyboard to enter the required letters or numbers. You had to use Treasury's "virtual keyboard" on its website, which wasn't laid out like a normal keyboard.

All of that on top of entering a password.

"It was difficult for people to use that card and the virtual keyboard," Harris said. "They thought it was so many layers of security, and people just didn't like it. Being a government agency, we want to make sure we're secure, even more so than a commercial entity out there. And we still are. A lot of things have changed since we initiated the access card."

The virtual keyboard remains. You must use it to enter your password. But the card is no longer required. It has been replaced with machine-to-machine authentication and image verification, Harris said -- both industry standards.

Series I savings bonds remain one of the best investments you can make right now. They are safe and currently pay a composite rate of 3.06 percent over the next six months. You can always redeem them after a year and after five years with no interest penalty. Or, hold on to them for 30 years. You'll pay no taxes on their accrued interest if you spend the proceeds on education. You can invest as little as $25 at a time.